Twilight star Xavier Samuel has revealed that he was bitten by a racoon while filming the movie Eclipse.

The Australian-born actor, who plays college-student-turned-vampire Riley in the third instalment, told Jimmy Kimmel's Total Eclipse Of The Heart that it happened in Vancouver.

Kimmel then produced a photograph of Samuel trying to avoid a racoon and jokingly asked if TMZ had been there to capture the moment.

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"We went to Stanley Park," explained castmate Bryce Dallas Howard (Victoria). "I was taking pictures and there were racoons there. Xavier was like, 'Ooh, I want a picture with the racoon' so he sat down and I was taking pictures and then all of a sudden this racoon launched on him and totally bit him!"

"While she was happily snapping away!" interrupted Samuel, quipping that he might now turn into a vampire racoon.

The actor went on to insist that the animal "didn't draw blood", but Howard disagreed, saying: "It did! I was urging him to go to the hospital but he was all Aussie about it!"

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse opens June 30 in the US and July 8 in the UK.